In a bold strategy for the future, Google’s parent company, Alphabet, has engaged in a bold move in the financial world. The tech giant has issued a 100-year bond due in 2126, which is a bold statement on its confidence in the company’s future prospects. This comes as the company is gearing up to make massive investments in artificial intelligence infrastructure. But for a company that has yet to reach the three-decade mark in its lifespan, the question in many people’s minds has to be, “Will Google exist in 2126?”
Why Is There an 100-Year-Bond by Alphabet?
The company that owns Google, Alphabet, reportedly issued a 100-year bond, which is due to mature in 2126. This places Alphabet in the select group of corporations that are willing to borrow funds for a century. According to regulatory documents, reported by Bloomberg, Alphabet is planning to raise around $20 billion in different currencies, including the US dollar and the Swiss franc. The bond provision is structured into as many as seven pieces, with the 100-year bond being the most striking part of the deal. In the technology space, very few corporations have issued century-long, high-duration bonds after a majority of firms chose to avoid the practice following the dotcom crash that occurred in the 1990s. What adds to the surprise is that Google, which is owned by Alphabet, was only founded in 1998. The company’s decision to plan a bond that will assume the company will still be functioning more than 100 years after the date of founding indicates confidence in the long-term stability of the company.
With an Eye on the Future: Google’s Need for Long-Term Funding for AI
The main reason Alphabet issued its century-long bonds is for the aggressive investment in artificial intelligence infrastructure. The company has committed to spending $185 billion on AI development, indicating its belief that artificial intelligence represents a fundamental, transformative change in technology that occurs once in several generations. Artificial intelligence is viewed as a technology that will fundamentally change the way society functions and create significant economic value to those who control it, by Google and other large tech companies like Microsoft and Meta. By issuing bonds for such a long term, Alphabet can finance the extensive infrastructure expenditures associated with today’s heavy investment in the future through a spreading of costs. This suggests confidence the investment will be central to Alphabet’s business for the next several decades. However, the magnitude of the investment has raised concerns within financial markets, with some observers expressing the possibility of a bubble being created as a result of the magnitude of investments in AI.
Lengthy Maturities and Investor Interest in Alphabet (Google)
Investor interest in Alphabet’s (Google) fundraising, which has a bond maturity of up to 100 years, remains strong despite the unusually long maturity. According to reports, bond issuance for Google’s 100-year bond was a portion of a total of $97 billion on an aggregate basis. With Alphabet’s strong finances, it is easy to see why there is so much investor confidence in Alphabet (Google). Revenue was high for Google in 2025 (approximately $400 billion), and it had approximately $127 billion (cash) available. Furthermore, Alphabet raised approximately $17.5 billion in the previous year alone. All of these numbers show just how strong Alphabet’s balance sheet is, and how much cash it generates consistently. Therefore, for investors that lend to Alphabet for a long time, lending to Alphabet is considered less risky than lending to a company that is younger or generates less profit. This bond issuance is a reflection of the confidence that investors have not just in Alphabet (Google) as the current market leader, but also in the company’s long-term strength.
Comparison of Google with Other Century Bond Issuers
Google has now joined an exclusive club of companies who have taken out long term (“century”) loans from other long-term lenders. For example, companies such as the University of Oxford and the Welcome Trust as well as the French electricity producer EDF have issued similar types of long-term bonds. However, for the University of Oxford specifically, it took nearly 800 years after the founding of Oxford before it decided to issue a long-term bond and about 80 years into operation before the Welcome Trust issued one. In the corporate world, Disney issued its famous “Sleeping Beauty” 100-year bonds in 1993, which took place many decades after Disney was established (1923). In comparison to these examples of older organizations issuing long term debt, Google was formed only 27 years ago and is in a very new industry (relative to the previous examples) that is rapidly changing. Century bonds are rare within the tech space because of the aftermath of the dotcom crash demonstrated to technology companies that they had to be careful about requesting short-term funding. Century bonds were once regularly issued by tech companies such as IBM and Motorola would not be likely to make that type of issuance today; therefore, Alphabet’s efforts are very impressive because of their youth relative to these other organizations and how rapidly their industry has developed.
Conclusion
It’s interesting to see that when Google’s parent company, Alphabet, issued a 100-year bond due in 2126, it was more than an economic strategy. It is a statement of faith in its future. With strong revenue, plenty of cash, and high demand, the company believes that its huge investments in artificial intelligence will be remembered when the future comes. Although there are concerns about an AI spending bubble, the company’s decision to issue a century bond indicates that it’s part of a select few who think in centuries rather than in decades. Although it’s unknown if Google would still exist by 2126, there’s no doubt that its parent company believes that its best years are still in the future.
